Self unloading vehicle



April 30, 1957 v. .1. KoMUcHAR ET AL 2,790,565

SELF UNLOADINGVEHICLE Filed Oct. '7, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 q, /Nl/EA/TORS l//c TOR .z KOM/ CHAR g DAR g2 CER/VY Lk M@- 4 ATTORNEY April 30,1957 v. J. KoMUcHAR ETAL 2,790,565

SELF UNLOADING VEHICLE Filed oct. v, 1954 s sheets-sheet s NR A Id?April 30, 1957 v. J. KoMUcHAR ETAL 2,790,565

SELF UNLOADING VEHICLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. '7, 1954 "//v VENrows V/C7'0? J KOMUCHR DAR/LD. CER/VY PM G- ATTORNEY April 30, 1957 v.J. KoMucHAR ETAL 2,790,565

SELF UNLOADING VEHICLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct.. 7, 1954 m w w f6 wcTOR J Kom/CHAR RYg CER/V y TTR/VEY nited States Patent SELF UNLOADINGVEHICLE Victor J. Komuchar, Palos Park, and Daryl D. Cemy, Oaklawn,Ill., assignors to International Harvester Company, a corporation of NewJersey Application October 7, 1954, Serial No. 460,97 6 6 Claims. (Cl.214-832) These and other objects of the invention will become moreapparent from the specification and the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a broken apart side elevational view of the novel seifunloading vehicle;

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a rear View of the vehicle;

Figure 4 is a plan View of the drive gearing;

Figure 5 is a side elevational View of the structure shown in Figure 4with portions of the casing broken away in order to more clearlyillustrate the construction;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged plan View of one of the means foropening and closing the floor sections;

Figure 7 is a transverse Vertical sectional view taken substantially onthe line 7 7 of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially on the line 88 of Figure l; and

Figure 9 is a horizontal transverse view taken substantially on the line9 9 of Figure 8.

Describing the invention in detail, the vehicle generally designated 2comprises a chassis or framework 3, including a plurality of crossmembers 4, and supporting interconnected side sills 5, 5 which carrypedestals 7 supporting a plurality of wheels 8. The chassis 3 supports abox, generally designated 9, which includes a pair of downwardlyconverging side walls 19, which are spaced laterally at their lowerends, the sides 10, 16 are interconnected at their forward ends by anupright front wall 11, and at their upper rear extremities by means of arear wall section 12, which at its lower edge has hinge connections at13 with a gate 14, which extends between the walls 10, 10, and isadapted to be swung rearwardly in order to open the rear of the box.

The chassis incorporates a plurality of upright beam members 16, 16,which join at their upper ends with the upper ends of the beam members17 of the respective walls 10, the lower ends of the chassis framemembers 16 being connected to the cross members 4. The chassis 3 alsoincorporates other upright members 1S, which at their upper endsinterconnect with intermediate portions of the beam members 17 of thewalls 10. The lower ends of the beam members 18 being connected to thebeam members 4, and the beam members 18 being connected intermediatetheir ends by generally horizontal beams or braces 19, which connectwith the adjacent outer beam 16.

The sides 10 of the box preferably are formed ofmetal such as steel oraluminum in order to provide a smooth:

discharge surface, and the lower end of each panelling 20 of each sidewall 10 is offset downwardA as at 21 toy form a pocket which receives alongitudinal edge portion- 22 therein of a exible ap or guide formed ofmaterial` reinforced rubber sheet, said guidesbeing riveted as at 23 tothe panelling 20 and extending inwardly therefromover the dischargeopening or elongated slot generally indicated 24. It will be readilyappreciated that these flexible guides provide a gentle path for theflow of the crops from the side walls to the discharge opening 24, whichis normally closed by a plurality of opposed board sections or floorplate elements 25, 25a, disposed in abut ting relationship as at 26. Itwill be observed from a consideration of Figure 2 that a series or rowof these board sections 25, 25a are provided from the rear to the frontend of the wagon at opposite sides of the slot, and that these aredisposed in side by side abutting relationship. Each board section 25,25a is slidably mounted between a pair of opposed top and bottom guiderails 27 A and 28, the bottom channel guides 26 being supported bygussets 30 from longitudinal beam members 32 which are connected to themembers 4 to form part of the chassis;V and the top guide rail 27 isconnected to the lower ends of thereinforcing beams 17 of the respectiveside Walls 10. The members 27 and 28 arevertically spaced to deine aguide slot 33 therebetween receiving the related board section 25 or 25atherebetween, the slot being open into the box adjacent to the loweredges of the side walls 10.. lt will be observed that cachfloor sectionis constituted of a pair of 'opposed board members or elements 25, 25aand that these board sections in the closed position cover the dischargeopening 24, which extends the full length of the box. The beam members32, 32, are spaced laterally of the Wagon at opposite sides of theopening 24, and rotatably support adjacent to the front and rear of thewagon, a pair of cross shafts 35 and 36, the forward shaft 35 carrying apair of laterally spaced sprockets 37, 37 and the rear shaft carryingkeyed thereto, a pair of laterally spaced sprockets 38, 38 and thesprockets 37 and 38 support a chain type of an endless apron conveyor39, which spans the entire width of the discharge opening 24.

Each board section 25 has its outer edge connected by means of a slidingpivot 39 to the upper end of a lever member 4l), which intermediate itsends is pivoted on a substantially horizontal axis as at 41 to Ialongitudinal beam member 42 of the chassis, and the lower end of eachlever 40 has a universal connection 44 with the outer end of anassociated actuating link 45. From a consideration of Figure l, it willbe readily apparent that the lever 40 is Y-shaped in end view and thatits upper spaced legs are pivoted at a plurality of points 39 to therelated floor section 25. This insures that the board will movetranslationally lengthwise in and out in a guided path.

The inner ends of the links or rods 4S of the opposed companion boardsegments 25, 25a, are pivoted respectively on generally vertical axes,as `at 46 and 47, on bolts 4S land 49 (Figures 6 and 7), which boltspass through upper and lower plates 50 and 51, which are separated byspacers 52, 53, and 54, of a double crank assembly or rotary actuator,generally designated 55. The plates S9 and 51 are journalled on avertical axis by means of a bolt 56, which extends through centralapertures 57' and 5S in said plates 50 and 51 with a spacerA sleeve 59.Said bolt 56 being fastened to a longitudinal channel member disposedbeneath the yassembly 55 and extending the full length of the box andconnected to, the chassis underframe structure members 4. Above the topplate 50 there are provided a pair of cam members in the for-m ofrollers 61 and 62 spaced 90 degrees apart Patented Apr. 3o, 1957rl 3andfjournalled on bolts 63`and 48 respectively, said bolt 63\carrying aspacer/sleeve 65 (Figure 6) between its head and the nut thereon, andwith the spacer sleeve passing throughrvertically aligned apertures inthe plate 50, andra rigidifying or positioning plate 67 which also.

overliesthe roller 62; the "head atthe upper/end of the boldg48engagingthe upper side `of"th,e;p|lateA 67.

As best seen in Figures 6 and '7, the upper end-of the mounting bolt-56l extends through a'horizontal plate portion 69 ofa combination shieldand chain guide mem'- ber, generallyl designated 70, which is U-shapedin cross section fand comprisesethe upperplate portion or shield portion69v againstwhich thehead 71 of each bolt 56 seats, the topY plateYportion 69.l being integrally united along one end with the upper -edgeof a vertical Wall or track and avchain member 76is guided-between thewalls 69 and 74 .along the wall 72said chain incorporatinga wedge-shapedcamortripemember 77 which is moved with the chain and positioned therebyin the horizontal plane and in the path of thevcam members 61 and-:62;It will be readily observedfrom a considerationofFigures 6 and 7 thatthe cam member 77 has forward andrearward edges 78 and79 -whichareoblique to the `direction of travel of the chain indicatedv by the arrowin Figure 6. The chain-76is lan endless type with its `top. run trackingin theV channel '70, and its bottom runV 804 running beneath the chassisframework of the wagonv as best .seen in Figure 1, the forward extremityof the chain76; being trained about a sprocket 81, which iscarried on ashaft 82,*Y rotatably supported on journal bearings 83;, whichareslidablymounted within a support framework 84 connected Vto the frontbeam member 35 of the wagon box, said shaft being 'associated with atension spring assembly 86 which is hooked to the front beam member 85for maintaining the chain 80 taut. The rear end of the chain 89 islmountedon a sprocket 87 which'gis keyed-,to a shaft 83 whichisjournalled on appropriate angle irons connected to the rear cross beam4, the shaft 8 8is constrained Vfor rotation with Ia sprocket 89'keyedthereto, and sprocket 89 being, driven by a chain 90, which in turn istrained about-an output sprocket 91 of a transmission assembly generallydesignated 92, andgincorporating a substantially square `sidedcasing 93mounted upon a chassis frame member 32. The sprocket 91.is .keyed to ashaft 94 which is jouinalled on opposite side walls95 and 96 of the gearcase 93, and the shaft 91 supports intermediate its ends a double jawclutch 97 for axial movement thereon, the clutch 97 being keyed to theshaft 94 for rotation therewith. One end of the shaft 97rotatablysupports a gear member 9d which meshes with a companion gear member 99keyed to a countershaft d, journalled at opposite ends on the Walls 95and 96,.'and said shaftlthaving another gear 101 keyedv thereto meshingwith a companion gear 102 on a power input shaft 36 of the conveyor, theshaft 36 being journalled on .the wall 95 of the gear case. The shaft 36is adapted for connection to any source of power such as a powertakefoff of a tractorY or truck or to an electric motor or the like. Itwill be observed that the shaft 36 drives the yapron 39 continuously,and that through the gear 1112 transmits the power to gear 1111, whichin turn transmits it tothe gear 99, which in turn transmits the power tothe gear 98. if uponactuation of the lever Y Vlib/wliich -is pivoted ona substantially vertical axis 16S onthe bottom wall 112 of the casetransverse to the axis kfgthe shaft 94, the double jaw clutch 97 isurged into ngagement with a jaw 106 which is connected and in- Ytegrallyformed on the gear 98, the power will be translidat a fast speed to theshaft 94 which inV turn will 'transmit the power to the sprocket 91, andfrom thence ainiil, and thus to the sprocket l39 and the shaft 87 anddrive the sprocket 87 which moves the chain 76 in sucha'directionf'thatthe upper run 1137V of-this chain 76 is advanced rearwardly, that is,from the front end to the rear end of the box. Under such conditions therear cam edge 79 of the cam member 77, which is moved by the chain 76will engage with the cam members 61 sequentially as will be readilyapparent in Figure 2, and rotate the crankassembliesrin a clockwise.direction (Figure 2) to a position disposing the crank assemblies asshown in the leftportion ofA Figure-2., It will be realized that thccranking motion is transmitted to the links 45, 45, which inturn-rotatestheir respective levers in directions movingthe associatepair of board sections 25 and 25a toward each other to close the wagonbottom. Upon the last board being, closed, the operator merely shiftsthe lever member 104 of the transmission into neutral as shown in solidlines whereat the clutch 97 is disengaged from the clutch 1.06.l

It will be observedin Figures 4 and 5 that one end of the shaft VV isprovided with a crank 10S which engages with the underside of a pair ofarms 109, the ends of which are connected to the upper end of a tensionspring 110; the tension spring being connected as at 111- at itslowerend tothe bottom wall 112 ofthe gear box, and constantly urging thearm members 1&9 downwardly into contact with the throw portion 113 ofthe crank 168; The arms 109 are-pivotally lmounted intermediate theirends by means of bearings Mcon the shaft-94 at opposite sides of aratchet wheel 116 which incorporates an axially directed collar 117extending through one of the bearings 11S, and provided Awith a'jawclutch portion 118 adapted for mating engagement with an opposed jawclutch portion of theclutch member 97'. The opposite ends of the arms109 are associated with an adjustable driving pawl 119 which'isadaptedfor engagement with one, two, or three-teeth 120cm the ratchetwheel 116. The wall 96: of` the gear-case'supports a holding pawl 121,which engagesl with the teeth 12) of the ratchet` wheel toprevent*counter-rotation. It will be observed that upon engagement ofthe clutch 97 with the clutch portion 118,of the ratchet wheel, astep-,by-step rotary movement is imparted to the shaft 94.in a directionreversed .and Vat a slowerspeed'to that which is obtained through thegears 99, 93. This direction of rotation moves the upper run 167 of thechain 76, in a direction moving the cam member 77 from the rear end tothe front end of thebox. And it will be observed'that inasmuch as theopposed board'sections areall closed, the cam member or roller 62, whichis disposed at 9G degrees from the roller 61, as best shown in Figure 6of each crank assembly 55 is in the path of the actuator or cam member77, and that these cams 62 as seen irl-the left half of Figure 2 of eachcrank assembly 55 are engaged sequentially from the rear to the frontend of the box by the forward edge 78 of the cam member 77, and uponsuch engagement, and the cam memberV moving for-Y wardly, the same willrotate the crank in a counterclockwise direction (Figure 6) to aposition disposing the movement transmitting links 4S of the opposedpair of boardsections 2S, 25a in the position shown in phantom lines insaid Figure 6 and in the right half of Figure 2. This rotary movementpulls each link inwardly, which in turn rotates the associated levermembers 4t) in directions drawing the related board sections 2,5 and 25afrom across the opening. 24, and opening said opening to the interior ofthe box and the Vincrement which is directly in thegleyerh 11M tinto.neutral .and allows the remainder.L of

the crop to be discharged. In order to close the bottom, the operatorwill rotate the lever 104 in a direction engaging the jaw clutch 97 withthe clutch portion 106 on the gear 98, and of course the rotation willbe reversed, and at a higher speed than the direction of rotation of theshaft 94 when opening the board sections, and of course the top run ofthe chain 76 with the actuator 77 will move rearwardly and willsequentially engage the bearing members 61 which are in its path androtate the respective crank assemblies to the position which are shownin solid lines in Figure 6 whereupon the opposed board sections 25, 25awill close. The operator then disconnects the shaft 36 from its powersource.

What is claimed is:

1. In a self unloading vehicle comprising a box with an elongated bottomdischarge slot, closure means for said slot movably mounted on said box,operating means for progressively moving said closure means in the orderfor opening said slot from one end to the other thereof and for closingsaid slot in the reverse order, an endless conveyor supported by saidbox beneath said slot in substantially parallel Vertical alignmenttherewith and having an upper run movable lengthwise of said slot in adirection toward said one end of said slot, and power transmission meansoperatively associated with said operating means and including first andsecond power transmitting trains, said rst transmission train having aslower speed than said second, said iirst transmission train mobilizableto actuate said operating means in a direction for opening said closuremeans at a slow rate, and said second transmission train mobilizable foractuating said operating means in a direction closing said closure meansat a substantially faster rate.

2. The invention according to claim l and said box comprising laterallyspaced side walls converging downwardly toward said slot and havinglower edges defining opposite margins of said slot, and iiexible iiapsconnected to the lower edge portions of said side walls and having alateral extent greater than the distance from the lower edge of theassociated side wall to the top run of said conveyor, and positioned tolay over said closure means in the closed position thereof and providingan extension of the related side wall to said top run of said conveyorto alford a gentle guide surface for material nischarging from said sidewalls onto said conveyor.

3. In a self unloading vehicle having a chassis and a box thereon withdownwardly sloping sides defining a bottom discharge slot extending fromthe front to the rear of said vehicle, a conveyor carried on the chassisin receiving relation to said slot and discharging lengthwise of theslot toward one end thereof, closure means having a plurality ofsections movably mounted on said chassis, and arranged to collectivelycover the entire slot in the closed position thereof and selectivelymovable to open position to uncover a corresponding portion of the slot,and means described in the closed position of said closure means forautomatically moving said sections to open position in the order fromsaid one end of said slot to the other and for moving said section fromopen to closed position in the order from said other to said one end ofsaid slot and comprising a crank operatively associated with eachsection and having first and second cams angnlarly separated from eachother, and trip means carried by the chassis in a path for engaging saidtirst cams attendant to movement of said trin means in one direction forrotating each of said cranks and incidentally positioning the same withsaid second cams in said path for engagement by said trip means uponreverse movement thereof, said last mentioned means incorporating astep-by-step transmission train for slowly opening said sections and areverse drive of substantially higher speed ratio than said transmissionfor rapidly closing said sections.

4. In a self unloading vehicle comprising a load sustaining structureincluding a frame and a box thereon, said box having a bottom with anelongated discharge slot, an endless conveyor carried on said frame `andhaving a run disposed in receiving relation to said slot, clo sure meanssupported on the frame at opposite sides of said slot for translationalmovement into said slot in closing relationship thereto over saidconveyor and out of said slot to open position whereat material withinthe box is caused to deposit onto said conveyor run, said closure meanscomprising a pair of members opposed to each other at opposite sides ofthe slot, a lever associated with each member and having a slottedpivotal connection at its upper end thereto and pivoted on a generallyhorizontal axis intermediate its ends to the frame, operating means forthe levers of said pair comprising a rotary crank assembly journalled onthe frame on a substantially vertical axis beneath said conveyor, pivotmeans disposed at diametrically opposite sides of said axis of pivot ofsaid rotary crank assembly, a pair of links pivoted to respective pivotmeans at one end and operatively connected to the lower end ofrespective levers at their other ends, and operating means for rotatingsaid crank means in one direction for actuating said links and levers tomove said closure members to open postion and in the opposite directionto shift said members to closed position.

5. The invention according to claim 4 and said crank means comprising aplate structure, and said operating means comprising a plurality of camsspaced circumferentially on said plate structure, a cam guide supportedon said frame, cam means carried on said guide, means for selectivelymoving said 0am means in either direction along said guide, said guidelocated alongside said plate structure with said cam means in engagingposition to one of said cams in one direction of movement thereof andengaging position to the other cam in the opposite direction of movementof said cam means.

6. The invention according to claim 5 and said means for selectivelymoving said cam means including an endless chain having opposite endsconnected to opposite ends of said cam means, rotary support means forsaid chain at opposite ends of said guide, transmission means connectedto one of said rotary support means and including two power trains forselectively moving said chain in either direction.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,122,273 Hansen Dec. 29, 1914 2,300,753 Wagner et al Nov. 3, 19422,328,675 Ribbans Sept. 7, 1943 2,520,291 Wall Aug. 29, 1950 2,589,988Bruno Mar. 18, 1952 2,668,629 Dahlman Feb. 9, 1954 2,743,026 EdwardsApr. 24, 1956

